I played 7 MORE Souls-Like games you've never heard of (AGAIN)
Summary
TLDRThe video script offers an in-depth exploration of various indie games, each with a unique twist on the Souls-like genre. The reviewer delves into games like 'Sword Card,' a car combat game with a giant sword strapped to its hood, and 'Slay the Minotaur,' a roguelike dungeon crawler set in ancient Greece. 'No Rest for the Wicked' is highlighted for its blend of Souls-like combat with a survival crafting element, while 'Death's Gambit' is praised for its beautiful world and distinct flavor. The script also touches on 'Rogue Masters,' a six-player co-op game with Souls-like combat, and 'Stone Machia,' a chess-themed Souls-like with breakable weapons. Lastly, 'Codex Lost' is noted for its focus on spellcasting in a Souls-like setting. The reviewer provides a balanced critique, appreciating the innovative concepts while also pointing out areas for improvement in mechanics, gameplay, and design.
Takeaways
- 🎮 The script discusses various games that resemble the 'Souls' series in gameplay and mechanics, indicating a deep dive into the sub-genre.
- 🛡️ 'Sword Card' is highlighted as an early access game featuring a car with a giant sword, showcasing a unique concept within the Souls-like genre.
- 🔥 The game 'Slay the Minotaur' is described as a roguelike dungeon crawler with Greek mythology elements and a stamina bar, offering a different take on the genre.
- 🤔 The player expresses frustration with certain game mechanics, such as stamina management and repetitive combat, suggesting areas for potential improvement.
- 🎶 Commentary on the game 'No Rest for the Wicked' includes praise for its visual art style and combat system, despite some performance issues.
- 🏰 The setting and aesthetics of 'Stone Machia' are noted for their uniqueness, with chess piece-inspired characters and environments.
- 🧙 'Codex Lost' is presented as a spellcasting-focused Souls-like game with a solo developer, emphasizing the potential for creative magic systems.
- 💣 The use of bombs and special moves in combat is mentioned, adding a layer of strategy to the games discussed.
- 🛠️ The importance of weapon durability and inventory management is touched upon, with the player expressing preferences for certain systems over others.
- 👥 'Rogue Masters' is mentioned as a six-player co-op game with Souls-like combat, although the player felt it lacked cooperative mechanics.
- 🌟 The player's overall sentiment is mixed, with enjoyment of the core gameplay loop but frustration with certain design choices and mechanics.
Q & A
What is the game 'Sword Card' about?
-Sword Card is an early access game by a solo developer where you play as a car with a giant sword strapped to the hood. It has a unique premise and features elements like Blade Rush, spinning attacks, and a stamina bar, making it somewhat reminiscent of Souls-like games.
What is the combat style of 'Slay the Minotaur'?
-'Slay the Minotaur' is a roguelike dungeon crawler set in ancient Greece. It features a stamina bar, dodge roll, and third-person action combat. The game is about surviving the Labyrinth and avoiding the Minotaur, which is a challenging enemy that you are too weak to fight for most of the game.
What are some of the gameplay elements in 'No Rest For The Wicked'?
-No Rest For The Wicked is a game that combines elements of Dark Souls and Diablo. It features deliberate and chunky combat, stamina management, dodging, and blocking. The game also includes a survival crafting aspect, where gathering resources is key to progression and survival.
How does the inventory system work in 'No Rest For The Wicked'?
-The inventory in 'No Rest For The Wicked' is not paused when you access it. There is a strict inventory limit, and items are categorized. When a category is full, you cannot pick up additional items of that type until you manage your inventory, which involves going back to town, storing items, and selling what you don't need.
What is the significance of the 'Essences' in 'Death's Door'?
-In 'Death's Door', you find new characters and absorb them as Essences. Each Essence has its own independent health and stamina. The game's gimmick is that you switch between multiple characters on the fly, and if one of them dies, the player dies.
What is the core issue with 'Rogue Masters' according to the reviewer?
-The core issue with 'Rogue Masters' is that it tries to emulate Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3 combat nearly one to one, which is not well suited for fighting dozens of enemies at the same time. The game would benefit from leaning less on Souls-like combat and adding more action game elements.
What is the unique aspect of 'Stone Machia' that sets it apart from other Souls-like games?
-'Stone Machia' stands out due to its unique theme based on chess pieces. The game introduces the ability to switch between different 'chest pieces', which have different abilities and correspond with their chess counterparts, adding a layer of variety and strategy to the gameplay.
What is the main focus of 'Codex Lost'?
-'Codex Lost' is a Souls-like game that focuses entirely on spellcasting. It offers a variety of spells and incorporates an element of strategy in choosing the right spell for different combat scenarios.
What is the player's form in 'Codex Lost'?
-In 'Codex Lost', the player takes the form of a crow, navigating a library and casting various spells in combat.
What is the player's reaction to the combat in 'Sword Card'?
-The player finds the combat in 'Sword Card' to be a bit tricky and awkward, especially when enemies don't die in one hit, which leads to feeling stuck at times.
What is the player's strategy in 'Slay the Minotaur'?
-The player's strategy in 'Slay the Minotaur' involves learning the map layout piece by piece, avoiding the Minotaur until strong enough to fight, and using various upgrades and items to enhance combat capabilities.
What is the player's opinion on the 'No Rest For The Wicked' game's difficulty?
-The player finds parts of 'No Rest For The Wicked' to be very frustrating and janky but appreciates the distinct experience it offers. They also express a desire for the game to be harder.
Outlines
😀 Exploring Unique Souls-like Games
The speaker introduces the video's theme of exploring lesser-known games similar to Dark Souls, highlighting 'Sword Card', an early access game featuring a car with a sword strapped to its hood. The game's combat involves dodging, using a stamina bar, and various attacks including a special deflect move and a blood spell. Despite its early access status and lack of coverage, the game impresses with its mechanics and potential.
😎 Sword Car's Engaging Combat and Style
The speaker dives into the gameplay of Sword Car, discussing its combat style, the use of a stamina bar, and the ability to jump and spin while attacking. They also mention the game's difficulty, the various strategies for tackling enemies, and the fun of discovering new moves. The speaker humorously compares the game to a combination of Ultra Kill and Dark Souls, and expresses a desire for more original games like it.
🤔 Slay the Minotaur: A Challenging Roguelike
Moving on to 'Slay the Minotaur', a roguelike dungeon crawler set in ancient Greece, the speaker describes the game's premise of surviving the Labyrinth. They discuss the game's mechanics, including attacking, parrying, dodging, and jumping. The speaker highlights the game's difficulty, the tension of avoiding the Minotaur, and the strategic use of in-game currency and power-ups.
😓 Frustration and Strategy in Minotaur Combat
The speaker shares their struggle with the game's boss, the Minotaur, expressing frustration with the game's difficulty and mechanics. They discuss the game's upgrade system, the use of a special chest, and the strategy of avoiding the Minotaur until stronger. The speaker also talks about their eventual victory and the game's ranking system.
🎮 No Rest for the Wicked: A Souls-like with a Twist
The speaker discusses 'No Rest for the Wicked', a game developed by Moon Studios that blends elements of Dark Souls and Diablo. They talk about the game's mixed reviews, performance issues, and the deliberate and chunky combat that requires stamina management. The speaker also covers the game's exploration, crafting, and survival elements, as well as their positive experience with the game.
🔥 Engaging with No Rest for the Wicked's Combat
The speaker continues their discussion on 'No Rest for the Wicked', focusing on the combat system, the use of focus and runes for special attacks, and the importance of managing stamina. They also mention the game's durability loss, the context-sensitive climb button, and the satisfying experience of overcoming challenging enemies.
🍲 The Cooking System and Its Impact on Gameplay
The speaker expresses their mixed feelings about the cooking system in the game, which requires players to gather resources to cook meals for healing. They discuss the inconvenience of the inventory system, the need to frequently return to the last checkpoint to cook, and the impact of this system on the game's difficulty and enjoyment.
🚶♂️ Exploring the Depths of No Rest for the Wicked
The speaker shares their experience after completing all the content in the Early Access version of 'No Rest for the Wicked'. They praise the game's core combat and exploration but suggest waiting for more updates before playing. The speaker also discusses the game's beautiful visuals, the influence from Dark Souls and Diablo, and the need for improvements in the inventory and resource gathering systems.
🤔 A Critical Look at No Rest for the Wicked's Design
The speaker provides a critical analysis of 'No Rest for the Wicked', discussing the game's design choices, including the inventory limit, durability implementation, and real-life waiting for building projects. They express their concerns about these mechanics and how they affect gameplay, suggesting that they detract from the core experience.
🧙♂️ Codex Lost: A Focus on Spellcasting in Souls-like Games
The speaker explores 'Codex Lost', a Souls-like game that focuses on spellcasting. They discuss the game's premise, the variety of spells available, and the challenge of navigating the game's menu with a controller. The speaker also talks about their experience with the game's combat, the need for more spells, and the potential for creative uses of elemental magic.
🔥 Boss Battles and Elemental Strategies in Codex Lost
The speaker continues their discussion on 'Codex Lost', focusing on boss battles and the strategic use of elemental spells. They share their experience with a boss that is resistant to arcane damage but weak to fire, and the discovery of a poison spell that proved effective. The speaker also comments on the game's checkpoint system and the need for a more engaging control scheme.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Souls-like
💡Stamina Bar
💡Dodge Roll
💡Early Access Game
💡Combat System
💡Resource Gathering
💡Poise
💡Inventory Management
💡Level Design
💡Boss Fights
💡Character Switching
Highlights
The game 'Sword Card' features a car with a giant sword strapped to the hood, offering a unique blend of driving and combat.
The game mechanics of 'Sword Card' include a stamina bar, dodge roll, and the ability to jump and deflect while boosting, creating a dynamic combat experience.
A standout review described 'Sword Card' as 'Ultra kill in Dark Souls, conceived a child within a Dodge Charger', emphasizing its innovative concept.
The combat in 'Sword Card' can be challenging, requiring players to master spinning attacks and managing stamina to defeat enemies effectively.
'Slay the Minotaur' is a roguelike dungeon crawler set in ancient Greece, where players must survive the Labyrinth and avoid the powerful Minotaur.
In 'Slay the Minotaur', players have a stamina bar and dodge roll, similar to 'Souls' games, adding to the game's challenge and strategic depth.
The game 'Have No Rest For The Wicked' is described as a mix of 'Dark Souls' and 'Diablo', offering a fresh take on the action RPG genre.
Combat in 'Have No Rest For The Wicked' is deliberate and chunky, with a focus on stamina management and strategic dodging.
The game features a unique curved world inspired by 'Animal Crossing', providing a distinctive visual perspective and exploration experience.
Players can upgrade their town and access new game mechanics through resource gathering, adding a survival crafting element to the gameplay.
The game introduces a durability loss system where death incurs a cost, requiring players to manage their equipment carefully.
The cooking system in the game requires players to gather ingredients and cook meals for healing, which can be a strategic element in boss fights.
The Crucible, a challenging end-game section, presents a gauntlet of seven rooms followed by a difficult boss, testing players' skills and strategy.
The game 'Deathbound' introduces a party-based system where players switch between multiple characters with unique abilities on the fly.
In 'Deathbound', the stamina bar is linked to health, and players can heal their inactive characters based on the damage dealt.
The game 'Rogue Masters' is a six-player co-op horde survival game with 'Souls'-like combat, offering a unique multiplayer experience.
The 'Stone Machia' demo presents a chess piece theme with players starting as a pawn, introducing a potential for strategic gameplay based on chess moves.
The 'Codex Lost' demo focuses on spellcasting in a 'Souls'-like game, offering a variety of spells and a unique approach to combat.
Transcripts
[Music]
a Souls slick is a game that's kind of
like Dark Souls maybe that means your
character can roll around maybe you have
to worry about a stamina bar or maybe
big monsters just want to sit on you
whatever it might be I like to find
Souls leges that you probably haven't
seen so if that sounds interesting this
is episode 24 of steam dumpster
diving all right first up we have sword
card the title pretty much Nails it you
play is a car with a giant sword strap
to the hood this is an early access game
by a solo developer and somehow it's
gotten zero tension zero coverage hardly
any reviews whatsoever despite this
incredible premise and yes obviously
this is a huge stretch to call of souls
like but the reason I'm including this
is because this is one of the top
reviews like Ultra kill in Dark Souls
conceived a child within a Dodge Charger
out of 10 that's one of the best
descriptions I've ever heard for a game
let's check it out oh man I'm so this
I'm ready right trigger to enter blade
Rush while in Blade Rush right stick to
aim your sword okay all let's try
that oh okay okay hold on check out this
dritic this Kick's
ass oh okay hold on you can spin I
thought you could just like I thought it
was just drifting hold on you can just
fully
spin this game is doing something it's a
little tricky it's a little tricky to
like finesse it the trick is you want to
be close but not too close like see I
[ __ ] it up there so first of all I do
have a Dodge roll I think this gives me
eye frames and I do have a stamina bar
at the top it's a little blue meter you
know kind of souls sure whatever and
then while I'm boosting I can jump
around to like jump over things I have a
special deflect move which like just
lets me spin but I think it also would
shoot projectiles back or block melee
attacks I don't know and I also have a
blood spell let's TR try
that oh it's a shuriken you can just
throw shurikens that's awesome okay okay
I get it this game this game might be
cooking Choose
Wisely wait that's the font from like
you wouldn't download a car my one
complaint right now I do wish the music
was like longer than a 4 second Loop
robot spiders sweep the legs sweep there
they don't die one hit they don't die
one hit oh no gun spiders my one
weakness just kidding go dude this is
hard okay I'm not loving how this feels
right now cuz like I'm slashing them but
they don't always die in one hit so it's
like I don't know this combat feels a
lot more awkward when they're not dying
instantly like you kind of get stuck
sometimes go go go go go
go I did it I got it
off I think that's the best strategy
just keep spinning just keep spinning
just keep spinning keep spinning
genuinely think that's the best way to
do it cuz like again they don't die in
one hit so you have to hit mult mple
times and spinning seems pretty good at
that I'm driving in oncoming traffic
right now unironically modern boost
Sonic games need to take inspiration
from this just imagine this game play
but Sonic but he has like a sword he's
swinging back and
forth visually it's hard to see what's
happening when I'm like slashing guys
but you know that's part of it that's
part of the charm almost got him I
knocked a few legs off I think I got him
okay we got the stamina bar it's it's
kind of souls like just let me have this
is that a Gundam knife arm head of
security we're fighting a Mech now we
have boss fights Dodge Dodge okay go for
the legs I don't think I heard him there
I can't tell all right let's try that
again so lock
on let's Dodge
that yep there we
go going to keep just boosting into
[Applause]
him there we go you know what in a very
weird way this almost feels like a Souls
boss fight if you like really squint
your eyes and don't think about it too
hard see look I'm dodging
away I'm watching his
attack I've spit in my
sword oh there we
go these cut scenes are
great they did the
thing
okay ow
that one
person H Mondays so I'm now in some just
like random office go for the neck I'm
guessing I want to like jump over it
jump spin that didn't work that didn't
work jump spin no see I don't think the
spin move either doesn't do damage or
does very little damage I'm not I'm not
sure oh okay wait I have bullet time I
forgot about that okay I was being kind
of dumb I think bullet time does help a
decent bit with like actually aiming
your attacks it is wonderful to make
your
acquaintance despite your pic ideology
believe me you still
alone I will make you
fre the manager all right got the moon
in the background great framing oh [ __ ]
there he is does he have the gut sword I
think he
[Applause]
might okay
[Applause]
boost almost got
[Music]
him got him look who's come to join the
party oh
[Applause]
good it's a bird it's a plane it's sword
car how did I get so much air
I don't know man I
think I genuinely don't think it's
possible to play this game like
precisely in the way that You' play a
game like Ultra kill but I think that's
okay I don't think every game needs to
be like that boost in bullet
time I can just repeatedly boost
in okay yeah you can break the game like
that just boost bounce boost bounce
boost bounce this ends here
[Applause]
[ __ ] you
sword thanks for early support oh I
guess that's the ends it's just one
level before I finish there's actually
other cars you can play with so let's
try out the AF
87 with the Gat this is cool though like
it's a different play style because the
swords are coming out of the
back like it is trickier to hit them all
right let's try out the gat
yeah that's the top
combo so even though this game is very
early on and it's like basically a demo
in terms of the amount of content there
is I think this game is hilarious I
would love to see more Goofy and
original games like this yes it's kind
of clunky yes I'm skeptical how far you
can take the concept Beyond what's shown
here and you know there's clearly some
Jank but that was extremely entertaining
sword cardv if you're watching this keep
cooking all right next up we got slay
the Minotaur this is a roguelike Dungeon
Crawler set in ancient Greece it's about
surviving the Labyrinth I believe this
is a solo developer game and even though
it doesn't have the souls leg tag it's a
third person action game with a stamina
bar and a Dodge roll and I don't know it
seems like a pretty good fit for this
series so let's check it out all right
here's my guy looking very good I can
attack I can stab I think that's a Parry
and it can
roll can also
jump there we
go okay interesting so
far what am I just blind did I miss that
okay I see this like fog effect is
covering it up so I need 40 currency to
open this got
it oh
[ __ ] all right back up back
up oh my God just use the fire can I
jump on the Fire
okay okay bad idea bad idea all right
you know what let's just run let's just
run
okay go go go go
go oh my
God all right this game is this game is
hard also I'm noticing that I don't
think the map is randomized each time
like it seems like the same layout which
means I can learn it piece by piece oh I
hear The Stomping
I don't know if I can fight this
guy oh [ __ ] it's a
cyclops maybe they'll fight each
other nope they're
not
dude how do he's throwing
[ __ ] there's no way there's no way so
this game's called slay the minitar
which makes me feel like the minitar is
the final boss so maybe maybe you're
supposed to avoid the minitar until
you're strong enough to fight him who's
this oh my
God holy [ __ ] those thighs dude anything
strike your interest is she like the
shop I can't afford any of this got a
helmet nice uh the helmet gave me
Spartan surge it looks like slash
forward rapid
l oh
[ __ ] okay wait wait wa wait that
replaced my Dodge roll oh [ __ ] that's
the minitar okay well yeah I have this
Dash now instead of the Dodge roll which
I don't know how I feel about oh man
this sucks I think you just lose when
the Minotaur spots you and I'm on fire
okay this is a cool looking area like
this area right here this is where these
Graphics are really working for me ow
yeah you know what let's try that
whenever the Minotaur has your scent you
will be alerted to the Mina current
location cuz I mean that's the whole
game it's avoiding the Minotaur so I'm
not seeing any alerts right
now oh there's a [ __ ] Cyclops
though would have appreciated a heads up
for that maybe I can actually fight this
guy maybe I can fight him
let's Okay Okay drink the
potion
roll oh my god I've actually hit this
guy so many times is he Invincible like
is maybe the starting sword just like
really bad I don't
understand
[ __ ] oh man I don't understand this game
all right lesson learn though don't Agro
the Cyclops don't Agro the minitar don't
Agro anything
big oh man I was mid roll Wonder If the
roll doesn't give eye frames
actually what the [ __ ] hit
me I didn't hear anything coming oh man
I I want to beat this just out of like
stubbornness now okay no no no dude this
attack is bugged look it only attacks
forward so if they're not directly in
front of me I can't hit
them like I try to attack to the side
and it's not
working okay hold on that Spin Attack
though wait if I can launch them like
that that's that's something let me let
me try playing with mouse and keyboard I
feel like the controller controls are
just not good and maybe that's part of
my issue yeah this feels better cuz I
can aim and attack attack at the same
time which you can't do with the control
scheme on controller o what is that oh
what is that okay hold on that's
Medusa what the
[ __ ] I I'm stunned I can't even get up I
don't understand these like Boss Designs
like are they supposed to be unwinable
cuz that's what it feels like oh good
the Minotaur is coming great great great
and I'm stoned awesome
[ __ ] kill me minitar just kill
me oh
god oh my
god oh I'm
stuck wow you can actually just get
stuck that's crazy how do you kill this
thing rolling doesn't give you eye
frames like what are you supposed to do
I'm really triy
man yeah I don't know I don't know I
have enough money for this super chest
so let's check that out okay hold on
aerion spare axe attacks are very slow
but deal a great amount of damage okay
this could be gamechanging depending on
how strong it
is oh [ __ ] yeah okay okay maybe I can
kill a cyclops you know what
maybe okay that did 200
damage that does
60 really
I got him oh my God oh my God okay hold
on that was a [ __ ] ton of money I can
buy a bunch of upgrades now let's do
increase Max health and restore all
Health uh all attacks deal more damage
that's good I'll take the increase
movement speed special attack time has
decreased and then I'm also going to buy
if your health reaches zero while
holding this item you will respawn with
half your health okay cool I think I'm
pretty geared
up this ax is busted it's like a whole
different game so Helm of Aries stun
nearby enemies so my role is now a stun
I don't know how I feel about that I
guess that could be fine oh I think the
minaur might be coming up if he is I'm
cooked oh yes he is okay all right I'm
going to try to run but I might just
have to fight
him dude the St move doesn't work on
him I have no defensive
move oh [ __ ] I'm getting revived I guess
okay all right cool so at least I got
revived not next to him so I have a
chance to make a comeback okay what do
we got it's got a bunch of
upgrades the Minotaur is [ __ ] close
though look how fast I am now though
holy [ __ ] those movement upgrades dude I
can like maybe outrun the minitar now
dude having that minitar sensor is like
a game changer like it's so important I
feel like it should be a core skill okay
wait this is huge replace your jump with
a roll yeah the jump is worthless so I
actually have a defensive ability now so
I can stun guys like this but still roll
I still don't know if I'm strong enough
to fight the Minotaur but like I'm
feeling better at least okay the
minotaur's down there I'm trapped up
here I don't know maybe I can kill the
medusas all
right oh come
on come
on dude dude no no I hate this enemy I
hate this enemy this is this is insane
okay can I escape without running to the
Minotaur probably not yep okay but you
know what I'm pretty fast now I can
maybe out run this guy cuz he has to
slow down a little bit when he takes
turns oh no please don't kill me I've
made it so far okay yeah I don't think
you can escape him I think he's going to
follow me
forever um damn this
sucks wait talk to her talk to her hold
on wait I can buy Sunlight temporarily
stun the Minotaur the Minotaur will lose
track of you but is Invincible while
stunned the price is only 100 pearls
when the Minotaur is actively chasing
you okay yeah oh wait I have 93 I can't
afford it [ __ ] I need $7 please please
please okay okay I got it I got it I got
it the Minar is too close no okay I'll
do another loop I'll do another loop all
right all right here we go here we go
minitar is too close by okay all right
here we go okay sunlight let's buy it oh
wait I think I have to actively use the
item hold on
I
see so let's use it there we go now I
got to run away okay man I still don't
feel strong enough for the Minotaur he
just feels like such a [ __ ]
encounter I don't I don't know you
know oh no oh
no oh [ __ ] me dude no no no
no no no no I hate this game I hate this
game oh my
God that was the run I was so strong oh
my God I want to cry going back to the
level one movement speed brutal no
longer take fall damage oh you know what
I could use that to jump off this Tower
okay the minitar is coming but I have
the upgrade that gives me no fall
damage you're [ __ ] kidding
me I hate this game
I hate this
game you're [ __ ] kidding me you're
[ __ ] kidding
me so I have him stuck on this I have a
flaming
sword I think I can just Whittle him
down I feel no shame in this oh cool his
armor breaks off okay the enemies keep
spawning which is a little annoying but
yeah I don't feel bad about this because
I really feel like I would have won that
one run where I fell down the hole okay
okay all
right so close so close burn oh my God I
did
it it's [ __ ] game it took Pine 15
minutes B
rank all right so while I did find parts
of this game to be very frustrating I
still think it's pretty neat in addition
to the art style grabbing me I think the
premise of this game is really cool
getting chased around by the Minotaur
which is an enemy that you're too weak
to fight for most of the game is an idea
that I haven't seen in a rogue like
before and it creates this interesting
Dynamic where you need to constantly be
moving and constantly being aware of
where the Minotaur might be while you're
leveling up and collecting things and
fighting other enemies and just having
that like anxiety in the back of your
mind where oh my God he's going to show
up at any minute it's cool so yeah it's
a very janky game I don't think I'm
interested in playing more and I
wouldn't recommend it to most people but
I still think it's pretty cool for what
it is and I think the dev did a good job
I hope they stick with it all right next
up we Have No Rest For The Wicked This
is the latest game from Moon Studios the
dev behind the AI games and it just
released in Early Access I avoided most
of the pre-release coverage of this game
but one thing I kept hearing is that
this game is apparently Dark Souls meets
Diablo and it's apparently surprisingly
Souls likee even though it's not
marketed as one as such it seems like a
pretty good fit for this series even if
yes this is a higher profile game that
doesn't really fit in with you know the
whole title of games you haven't heard
of but if I didn't put it in one of
these videos I just wouldn't talk about
it at all and I really do want to talk
talk about it cuz it looks pretty cool
also I'm playing this on release day I'm
surprised to see it has mixed reviews I
kind of thought this would be a slam
dunk well yes a lot of the negative
reviews have to do with performance
which is apparently not great A lot of
them also just don't like the game so
yeah pretty surprised anyway let's check
it out create character look at these
proportions I look perfect wouldn't
change a
thing oh is that
me look at my hat so I can Dodge with a
button have that stamina bar and then
X's attack and you can break [ __ ] these
are some quality Barrel physics I've
seen a lot I'm going to rest in this bed
and then we're going to get attacked by
like sea monsters and then we're going
to crash lands that's how it
goes oh there we go blood rusted sword
equip the sword cool inventory scream
also the game is not paused when you're
in your inventory so good to keep that
in mind all right let's test out dodging
okay pretty
slow oh okay getting a feel for like the
pace of combat let's do a charge
attack okay combat feels interesting so
far very like deliberate and chunky okay
let's try
blocking oh they get like stunned for a
second oh ran off
stamina okay stamina management is
actually an issue here
like like three attacks is basically my
whole stamina bar Sprint off surfaces or
Ledges to jump across gaps okay go my
God I thought I died press a against an
object to clamber up oh and climb [ __ ]
oh I like that o okay wait that makes
that already makes the exploration a lot
more interesting enemy vulnerability
okay here we go stagger an enemy to
briefly lower their guard weapons deal
Poise damage increasing the white Poise
meter above an enemy once full the enemy
is staggered alternatively left trigger
Parry just before an enemy attack lands
to instantly stagger them
wait so I can't see the Poise meter hold
on is that like a thing in the options I
don't know okay anyway let's try to
Parry there we
go man these enemies are
tanky pairing feels pretty good okay
yeah here show enemy Poise bars yeah I
think I want that on cuz the tutorial
mentioned it and that sounds interesting
um also going to turn on damage numbers
cuz I do like seeing those so let's
sneak and back up
nice climbing surfaces like Vines will
consume stamina okay oh we got like the
breath of the wild jump as
well this game looks so
good oh this Kick's ass
oh get
him let it fun show these mainlanders P
Sakura is our Island I love her see now
I can see the Poise bar and the health
bar I kind of wish that was on by
default yeah all these enemies are like
very tanky like I'm not saying that's a
bad thing necessarily but like I'm
noticing it immediately Sprint and Dodge
press X for a combo attack ooh okay
combo
ATT oh I see okay dude my stamina is so
low yeah this is interesting like it's
very chunky fights go on for a while oh
my God look at this
guy oh this guy's
awesome you shouldn't be here
Sarah it's too late for Fairy Tales
it's too late for any of
us all right I lived but I lost my
hat the shallows moderate is it telling
me how hard it is gathering resources is
key to to progression survival okay all
right I feel like I'm at to start of a
survival crafting game now hey what's up
crab hell yeah I knew it should have
never brought you on board you'll never
make it a Sacrament from here so I got
to make it the sacrament the map reveals
your path throughout Isola however the
world is constantly shifting so the path
will gradually fade over time revisit
these shrouded regions to discover new
dangers and loot that's a cool idea the
fog of War returning to areas you've
already been press y with a pickaxe
there's mining dude how much resource
Gathering is in this game press y with a
wood cutters axe to cut down the tree oh
my God this is actually like getting
into survival crafting tier weight class
controls the Dodge you perform so quick
step roll slow roll plus stagger enemies
with shoulder barge oh that's cool so
being heavy isn't necessarily a bad
thing cuz you get a new move at fire
pits you can cook meals using obtained
resources so I have the recipe for soup
let's craft to
soup and you can catch on fire okay I
always have to test that every game I
play oh oh that's awesome that's a fun
animation focus and runes spend gained
focus by unleashing your weapons runes
runes are powerful special attacks
unique to every weapon okay so if I
press left bumper there's nothing I
press right bumper okay there's a
special
move let's try
that okay so I have like a special
thrust attack that I can do by building
up Focus which I get by Landing attacks
got it I like that let's climb
this oh [ __ ] this is a secret should I
jump nice and then I think I can jump on
those Vines
yep
nice scrap
bomb what the [ __ ] was what is that what
is that it's like a tentacle huh dude
what are those tentacles it's freaking
me out all right what are you Whispers
at serum Whispers you can rest and
record your progress if death should
find you you will incur a durability
loss wait durability loss oh man I
didn't realize this game had durability
okay let's rest of the bonfire I wonder
if that brings enemies back like a
bonfire it might not cuz it didn't
restore my
health oh man this is making me so
nervous oh my my God I'm alive I'm alive
so here's the issue okay the climb
button is context sensitive it's the a
button which is also the Dodge button so
if I'm not lined up perfectly there's a
good chance I'm just going to fall to my
death like right there it worked that
time last time it didn't work do you
think he'll just like be dumb and run
off the ledge no he's smart okay okay
don't turn around don't turn around
don't turn around don't turn around
there we
go that's so satisfying
oh that's so much damage oh my
God holy [ __ ] durability loss oh no wait
let me check my let me check my
equipment okay the durability went down
86 okay that doesn't seem like a huge
durability loss all right
sneak I'm going to try something here
I'm going to run away and see if I can
back set him again if like he loses
aggro all right I'm thinking maybe I
can't lose aggro all right and in that
case time to use the
bomb hell yeah Poise defense enemies can
deal Poise damage that can interrupt
your actions and stagger you yep yeah
that guy definitely staggered me wait
holy prisoner Piller is a helmet that's
hilarious look at that thing this is
cool though like the way this world is
put together and the way this camera
perspective works really liking it so
far like look how high up I am look how
far in the distance I can see yeah this
is this is doing it for me yeah some of
these basic enemies have like very
simple attack chain like it's just those
two attacks and I think that's all they
have
basically so like combat can kind of
turn into this waiting game oh level two
every level up grants you three
attribute points so we have health
stamina strength dexterity intelligence
Faith focus and equip Lo okay those all
seem pretty straightforward and very
similar to the soul series uh I'm going
to start out with health and stamina cuz
can't really go wrong with that okay
wait can I Parry without a shield let's
[ __ ] find out you can nice oh I got a
staff and some pants hold on so the
damage is a lot lower but it says
Fireball and
channel how does that work wielding a
wander staff allows you to cast powerful
spells using their unique runes casting
a spell consumes Focus okay that's what
I figured know let's try magic also I
like how this walking animation you
actually are using the staff as a
walking stick that's a really cool touch
got to test out my Fireball on you
buddy okay eight damage but maybe he
like takes burn
damage yeah that's kind of underwhelming
honestly cuz that was all of my focus
for those two attacks what about
channel the [ __ ] was that oh I think I
just sacrificed my health to get some
mana and I didn't even get that much
that doesn't seem worth it dude I don't
know I feel so underpowered oh wait hold
on charge spells charge spells must be
held to successfully cast okay maybe
that's the issue you have to do charge
spells to get decent
damage ooh there's plunging attacks I'll
keep that in mind let's kick this got a
shortcut now nice what the [ __ ] is that
what is that let's back up a little
bit oh he hit himself that's cool I
really like that okay let's make him do
that
again oh I love that go
Fireball nine damage that's so
bad and they can block the fireball all
right
you know what I think I'm putting this
staff away yeah okay you know what I'm
I'm switching back to melee for now H
wait also hold on I'm in the heavyweight
class now so how did the shoulder bash
work so I think it's the left and right
bumper at the same time I wonder if
that's actually good I hope it is yeah
also just want to confirm enemies are
not coming back even after you rest or
after you die shoulder bash oh I knocked
them
over that shoulder bash is kind of good
like it takes a lot of stamina but like
not knocking them over for a couple
guaranteed hits is like pretty decent so
I have an issue now I've run out of food
and basically what that means is I have
no way of getting my health back unless
I backtrack to the last campfire and
cook some more or I just die and get my
health back I'm feeling like I don't
love this Cooking System already like
there's a reason the Estus flask is kind
of like an elegant solution to to stuff
like this but I don't know maybe it'll
work I don't want to be too
hasty hey what's up guys the story is a
true I got to do a 3v one with low
Health excellent good thing of a
bomb oh there we go I think that's the
trick run around and then just like land
charge attacks and then back off again
thank you stranger thought I could
sabotage the gate to keep more of these
Savages from reaching sacraments walls
oh wait repairing is free it must not
always be
free Yeah we actually just have mining
all right at least it's a fun visual you
know right now I just made a bunch of uh
just made a bunch of crab chower so like
that's weird right like I just be
walking around with 13 crab chers in my
inventory and just have access to a
bunch of healing you know like I just I
just don't know I don't know how I feel
about that yeah I don't know I'm like
I'm very wary of if I'm actually
interested in all this resource
Gathering like I can't tell how much it
matters yet like if it actually matters
and I have to be like doing this [ __ ]
constantly it is going to get kind of
annoying who
feel so weak against this guy
man nice all right fishing time let's
go
yeah why can't I pick it up oh my God
it's my inventory full no way my
inventory is actually full the resource
tab is completely full God damn it I
[ __ ] hate that
[ __ ] this is crazy this is [ __ ] crazy
why are we doing
this the [ __ ] comedic
timing oh [ __ ] I just emoted
just [ __ ] emoted hit the wrong button
what was that emote I like put my fist
up what the [ __ ] is that thing holy [ __ ]
that's so
cool let me just get a feel for the move
set oh no I'm
[ __ ] yeah okay yeah so again kind of
interesting like none of the enemies are
here it's literally just a run back okay
can I backstab big enemies I hope I can
oh you can't there's no like button
prompt H okay in that case I have a
different idea what if instead I use
this ledge for a jumping
attack excellent fantastic work oh my
god oh wow that's so cool the way he
like destroys those things oh I'm going
to go for it I'm going for it [ __ ] it
shoulder bash oh my God it actually
worked shoulder bash works on big
enemies can I actually get stuck like
this no
way
wow almost got
[Music]
him wow cannot believe that worked
that's stupid shoulder bash get
up shoulder bash get up shoulder bash
oh oh surely my plunging attack will
finally work
please there we
go what the [ __ ] is that what is
that whoa whoa okay I underestimated you
man I'm sorry just kidding shoulder Bash
all right yeah this is just the shoulder
bash game now I guess o a
claymore all right I like this thing I
like it seems like he has a very similar
move set to the other big guy it's a
little different oh he fell over okay
good claymore's fun though like you
really feel the weight and the impact of
it like they they nailed the game to the
animation for
that oh 30 damage I'm officially
Claymore
pilled like the slow paced and like
chunkiness of this combat makes way way
more sense when you're using a giant
strength
weapon definitely feeling better all
right something bad happened here we got
a trail of blood oh [ __ ] first boss okay
here we go finally
hey what's up
man I'm just going to run over here holy
[ __ ] dude oh Manan the way he breaks
everything is [ __ ] awesome
um all
right all
right not going great
so
slow just keep running
around
yep oh I missed my uppercut
damn you know what I can just trade hits
actually okay maybe I can't maybe I
can't maybe I can't
[ __ ] okay so what feels bad about that
is I used like a bunch of consumable
healing and that's just gone now so like
what does the game expect me to do do I
have to like farm and get some more cuz
that seems really shitty okay I switched
some stuff around and unequipped my
helmet and changed my chest piece so I
can medium roll yeah okay I'm medium
rolling this time feels way better for
this
boss oh I need to wait 3 seconds okay
wait there's a cool down on eating I
didn't realize that was a thing
right he's going poison mode
now oh can I fight him on this bridge
not that I really want to but that's
cool you
can uppercut oh
huge go go go go got him
oh my
God
ooh new weapon 22 strength oh that's so
sick though look how much better this is
it has way more damage four special
moves and all these like special effects
on it I guess I'm going full
[Music]
strength State your business quickly
don't think just because you failed the
Beast you're an ally it's all right
Winnick I apologize for the lack of
hospitality my friend here has his guard
up for good reason welcome to
[Music]
Sacrament
yeah fast travel unlocked huge wait that
actually is huge we prepared lodgings
below a humble room to be sure but safe
and
warm I love the idea of him just like
sleeping in bed with his Claymore
welcome to your new lodgings you can
stash your inventory and share it with
other players by using the community
chest what okay wait I know what this is
this is for multiplayer if you're
playing with your friends but that
hasn't been added to the game yet just
like walking around the city looking
around like genuinely just a work of art
with my hands and your copper we can
make sacramental blue me okay so here we
go so I can build all these different
things and they take real time it seems
4 hours interesting I guess let's just
do the first one CU it's only 15
minutes oh can I do multiple yeah let's
upgrade the Smithy that seems
useful yeah I mean I guess that confirms
it though I need to be getting a lot of
wood a lot of ore yo I got a new hat
let's go okay so I can Infuse my weapon
here I can give it fire damage
that sounds
cool oh hell yeah oh and a light source
No Rest for those of us keeping chaos
Bay the wicked what do you
say all right bounty hunting what do you
got we have dailies and weeklys
interesting torn Colossus in the war
room that's inside the city that seems
like a pretty important Bounty I'll take
care of that all
right who's in the War Room it says
dangerous
oh wow that's a lot of Health I think
this guy might be a significantly higher
level than
me little by
little oh
oh my God I'm so
focused oh my God I got it wait I went
to level
six holy [ __ ] I got so much xp from that
one thing I do really appreciate though
is that like taking on enemy that you're
clearly underleveled for is actually
like viable if you just play well enough
sometimes like in arpg it's just not
possible but that's always something
I've enjoyed about like the souls games
for
example oh you can backstab the combat
oh wait I assumed it was stealth only
okay that changes
things I feel like I broken the game and
they really did take inspiration from
Dark Souls huh okay yeah so like I'm
backtracking through this area cuz they
supposed to be a warlord in the area for
a side
quest uh this gate was not burned down
before so this is now a new area
Ellsworth arms field Huns and farmers
and sends them to the
slaughter I wonder by the time we breach
sacrament's Gates will anyone be left
inside oh hell
yeah oh wow this is bad
okay oh
[ __ ] okay definitely get the little guys
first
oh my God I have no stamina no stamina
okay let's just hold let's get a feel
for the move
set oh my God oh my God my teammate's
getting
him my teammate with one Health is doing
it how is he still
alive get him teammate get
him oh there he goes
these bosses are really cool I love how
this is animated like okay he gets kind
of like a little tired after that move I
wonder if I can Parry any of
this probably can't Parry The Shield but
when he does the SL attacks
maybe there we go
can oh that's so satisfying
oh you're fighting for a dead
man Elsworth can't protect
Sacrament he can't protect
anyone oh guess you ran away first try
though that was fun well I'm going to
test something
out okay that's cool they can kill each
other like see what I'm talking about I
can just ignore his entire move set I do
appreciate by the way that even though
I'm coming back to an area I've already
been to already at least it is different
enemies like that does help with not
feeling super repetitive even though it
is a little Autumn coming back here
already
whoa oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] oh [ __ ] eat
e eat
eat go down go down go down
no that was a real [ __ ] ambush
tactical
ladder holy [ __ ] oh there's the guy I
got to rescue I'm up on top of the old
bridge yeah I can see that Gods reach
finally someone heard so I got to find a
way to lower this ladder I
think oh wait Western Bridge key hold on
I don't know what door that's for it
might be back in the fort though one of
my bounties was let me check kill the
brutal couplet in the shallows all right
there's the pair of hulking bruts maybe
I can Agro one at a time though let
throw a
bomb yeah he's got the skull next to his
health bar definitely underleveled oh
they both see me all
right wait they can hurt each other hold
on hold on that's I
win yes this is going to
work wow that actually worked
awesome oh that was awesome I really
like that you can just do that like you
can you can fight stuff you're
underleveled for also like using them
against each other like that really
really fun and very good news now enough
strength to use the legendary sword I
got yo check it out it's got like this
darkest effect on
it oh the move set's different too I
think it's like even
bigger oh oh they get like poison now
too look at
that oh my God 50 5 damage on the charge
attack this might be the locked door
let's see it is
okay yeah I'm just one shotting guys now
God
damn oh my God that was my berserk
flurry move oh man this game looks so
good like God kick down the
ladder you're saved all right this is
very interesting so far um going to keep
playing on my own and I'll get back to
you with my thoughts after I finish so I
finished all the content that's
currently in the Early Access version of
the game after clocking in about 13
hours then I did a second faster
playthrough with a spellcasting build to
get a fuller view of the game the short
version of my thoughts is that the core
combat and exploration of No Rest For
The Wicked is mostly excellent if you're
a fan of souls L games this is one of
the very few Indie titles that you
probably don't want to skip however I
find many things surrounding that
excellent core questionable and I would
highly highly suggest waiting to play
the game until it receives more updates
or ideally fully releases into version
1.0 it's very clearly in the feedback
stage of Early Access and on top of
desperately needing improvements to
Performance I expect multiple systems in
the game to receive overhauls and tweaks
also the game's just incomplete with it
only containing act one of a larger game
and story so just trust me if you want
to try it for yourself you'll have a
much better experience if you check back
in a few months or a year from now let's
start with what this game Nam
first of all holy [ __ ] this is such a
beautiful game the environment the art
style the colors the animations I wish I
had the words to properly express how
much I love what this game is doing
visually simply wandering around the
world can be jaw-dropping what makes
this all even better is how the
developers took inspiration from Animal
Crossing and implemented a curved world
where the 3D environments literally
curve away from the player this works
wonderfully for the camera perspective
as it does a great job of framing
everything and allows you to see further
into the distance combine that with some
really dense and vertic iCal level
design and you got something special
this is paired with some of the
chunkiest and most deliberate combat
I've experienced in a Souls Lake and
when it works it works attacks are
generally telegraphed quite well and
most encounters are slow and methodical
just like a Souls game group fights can
shift the flow of combat into something
more fast-paced and frenetic while still
retaining that chunkiness weapons like
the great sword have an immensely
satisfying weight to every swing but
there's also room for faster play styles
that reward good Parry timing and
aggressive combo attacks I was happy to
see that nuking enemies with spells is
also a viable strategy even in a melee
Focus game I'm curious to see if they'll
continue to evolve the range play Styles
as development continues well clearly
taking a lot of influence from Dark
Souls and Diablo no rest for the wicked
still very much has its own distinct
flavor of gameplay there's nothing else
that looks or feels quite like this and
that goes a long way for someone like me
who craves distinct experiences in a
genre filled with games that don't
always do quite enough to set themselves
apart on the flip side I think this
uniqueness might push some people away
I've seen people describe the combat as
clunky and unresponsive and while I
disagree I do understand that sort of
knee-jerk reaction and think it takes
some getting used to the first couple
hours in particular can be rough because
you'll be especially weak and coming the
grips with the combat mechanics and I
totally understand why people would
bounce off a game like this when it
feels like the whole experience is going
to be spongy enemies and constantly
running out stamina it's also worth
considering that since this game wasn't
marketed as a Souls Lake some people
came in expecting something closer to
Diablo or another arpg but make no
mistake this game is extremely soulslike
when you mix in performance issues and a
few questionable design choices I'm not
that surprised at sitting at mixed
reviews I do genuinely understand the
disappointment in a title like this and
I even feel some of that myself but
let's not get it twisted the core of
this game is superb combat feels great
and it's a joy to take in the SS as you
explore different environments I've seen
quite a few reviews from people quitting
the game early because it's too hard and
at the risk of sounding annoying as [ __ ]
I actually wish the game was harder if
you make it through the intro section
and beat the first boss Things become
far easier with both my strength and
intelligence builds I was just
one-shotting most enemies at a certain
point and I found myself a bit
disappointed by the lack of challenge in
the encounter design of the Overworld I
was also hoping the bosses would pose
more of a threat as aside from the first
boss and the final Crucible boss I beat
them all my first try that being said
this is a matter of preference and not
necessarily a big deal not every game
needs to be super difficult and if we
being honest the difficulty is mostly in
line with the souls games if you are
truly struggling though Co-op is one of
the first major planned updates and once
that gets added I think it would be a
great way to experience the game it
would likely ease the combat friction
for a lot of people any anyway there's
also a fair bit of Diablo influence and
that's seen most clearly in how gear and
loot is handled the loot inside of every
chest is randomized and then if that
loot happens to be a piece of gear
there's an additional layer of RNG in
the form of potential random effects
rolled onto it so yeah Diablo Neo you've
seen stuff like this before I'm not
always a fan of this approach to gear
but I think it works decently well here
because the passive effects you'll get
are actually noticeable too often I'll
play a game that gives me something like
a 1.2% bonus to fingernail growth rate
and I'll never actually notice it while
some of those boring bonuses still exist
exist here I also found plenty of
special effects that I felt the impact
of like a helmet that significantly
boost the amount of healing I receive or
life steal on a weapon or a burst of
damage from a Parry on a shield or a 20%
damage boost on a ring this is the type
of game where gear matters and can
actively change your play style and my
main point of feedback for it is that I
hope the full game continues to add more
interesting gear modifiers they're on
the right track but yeah still a ways to
go somewhat related I also really
appreciated how many different move sets
weapons seem to have like for example
each great sword didn't share the same
Basse move set and they actually seem to
differ from each other I know we take
that for granted sometimes with fromsoft
but that's rare to see in a game like
this so those were the positives it's
everything else about the loot and
inventory system that I dislike one of
the main culprits here is a strict
inventory limit and the awful Inventory
management that ACC companies it items
are split into different categories like
wearable gear consumables and resources
and when you fill up a category you
can't pick up anything else that falls
into that category this will happen to
you constantly even if you go out of
your way to empty your inventory
whenever possible it'll keep happing and
when it does happen what's the solution
you need to stop fast travel back to
town put stuff in storage and sell
everything else you don't need it's very
tedious and it baffles me that this is
what the devs envisions same thing with
how durability is implemented I simply
disagree and don't think it should be in
the game on paper sure losing durability
on your gear as a penalty for dying
could keep the player on their toes but
in practice it's meaningless after the
intro section all you need to do is fast
travel to town pay a very small amount
to repair and you're all set its current
implementation is pointless and and
never once affected my gameplay keep in
mind that I'm pretty open-minded when it
comes to adding mechanics like inventory
limits and item durability to games
there are ways to do it that makes sense
and lead to a more compelling game not
to get to armchair game design 101 but
things like inventory limits and item
durability should only exist in your
game if they lead to the player being
thrust into interesting situations or
being forced to make interesting
decisions that wouldn't exist without
those mechanics in other words it needs
to be a core mechanic that meaningfully
interacts with the rest of the gameplay
no rest for the wicked does not do this
and the only resulting gameplay is
unfund Inventory management and more
frequent trips to town again I'm on
board with frictional game design and
eliciting negative emotions out of
players but it needs to be in service of
making the game more interesting right
now it's just mildly inconvenient in a
way that detracts from the game
Inventory management is the bigger issue
though and at a minimum I really hope
they increase the stacks of resources
you can carry to cut down on some of the
TDM of running back and forth the
storage speaking of TDM we haven't even
talked about the resource Gathering yet
oh my God the game wants you to collect
obscene amounts of wood copper clay and
a bunch of other raw materials to
upgrade the town and access game
mechanics like crafting workbenches and
an interet it would be one thing if this
could be achieved passively in the
background while you're exploring around
but the amount you need to gather means
you need to genuinely just go out and
farm and grind have fun standing still
for 15 seconds to get a singular piece
of wood out of the couple hundred you
need those seconds add up and a
noticeable portion of my play time was
spent watching resource Gathering
animations it just doesn't make sense
for this game I don't hate resource
Gathering as a concept and there are
plenty of survival crafting games that I
love where farming and grinding is a
core part of the gameplay Loop and makes
sense but like this isn't what's going
on here it's not a survival crafting
game it's a souy action RPG with tacked
on resource Gathering that feels at odds
with the rest of the game's level design
and structure what's even worse is
you'll be required to wait real life
hours for building projects to complete
whenever you start them why what does
this add I'm sure some people will enjoy
the grind and the waiting but I really
feel like the devs missed the Mark here
and I question the ultimate vision they
have for this game when real life
waiting is paired with daily and weekly
quests how much do they expect me to
play why do these elements feel inspired
by mobile games I hope the full game
minimizes these grindy aspects since it
gets in the way of the good parts of the
experience at a minimum though the
durability on resource Gathering tools
needs to be increase it shouldn't take
nearly as long to gather from a resource
node the real life waiting needs to be
completely removed and ideally the cost
of building projects should be reduced
anyway there's more to discuss cooking
and the healing system so I'm mixed on
this one basically you're source of
healing is cooking meals from
ingredients you find scattered around
the map if you had 10 bowls of soup use
five and then died you're respawning
with five bowls of soup left in other
words it's not an Estus flask within the
context of enemies not respawning after
you die I think your healing also not
coming back is mostly fine the real
issue is boss fights while I didn't get
stuck on any story bosses I can easily
see how it would potentially lead to a
very unfun gameplay Loop of you spending
all of your healing resources dying to
the boss and then needing to spend the
next however many minutes Gathering more
ingredients or buying them from a
merchant look I love bloodborne but
blood vile farming is not one of the
reasons for it this is basically a worst
version of that but also once you reach
the later parts of the game having
enough healing becomes a complete
non-issue like most of the time I'd have
well over 100 meals in my inventory and
the consequence of this meant that I
would never run out of food and I no
longer cared about taking damage outside
of boss fights since I could always just
heal back up the fool so this Cooking
System leaves us with two scenarios the
early game has the potential for tedium
if you run out and are forced to grind
and the later game has essentially un
limited healing both of these scenarios
are kind of boring however I will say
that I think the cool down on eating is
a smart one because even if you walk
into a boss fight with 100 bowls of soup
you'll still need to wait 15 seconds
between eating each one so you can't
outright face tank your way to Victory
anyway yeah cooking is a mix bag here
not every Souls L needs to emulate frof
with an Estus flask but I want the
difference in approach to lead to
something that's still interesting one
of the craziest things this game does
though is how it handles the last
portion of the game the serum Crucible
this is unlocked after you finish all of
the story content of the Early Access
version of the game and it's a gauntlet
of seven challenging rooms back to back
followed by an incredibly difficult boss
The Twist if you die you get sent back
to the very start and need to repeat it
all and a single mistime Dodge can be
enough to kill you with how much damage
some of these enemies do the overall
structure and design of the section is
laughably bad as it asks you to repeat
these rooms over and over and over every
run it's the same seven rooms chosen
randomly from a pool of only 10 the
rooms themselves are only slightly
randomized like maybe an enemy or two
will be switched out for a different one
but it's a essentially the same room
every time basically imagine a Rog like
where almost nothing changes between
runs and you go in with the exact same
build every time that's what this is and
in turn it's one of the most tedious and
mind-numbing runbacks to a boss I've
ever seen in a game like this as it
takes upwards of 20 minutes just to get
to the boss each time actually longer
than that because remember between each
attempt you'll be going back to town
putting resources into storage selling
loot repairing your equipment and
restocking your healing and other
consumables and the sad part is that I
actually like the encounter design of
some of these rooms they can be quite
challenging and memorable like a
spellcaster in a cage shooting Fireballs
at you while you're forced to deal with
melee enemies the boss itself is
especially great and was incredibly fun
to learn the difficulty of these
encounters is definitely going to push
some people away but this is more in
line with what I wanted from the rest of
the game it's simply the tedium of
needing to spend half an hour repeating
the exact same thing every time that
crosses the line for me and it ends The
Experience on a weirdly sour note like
it feels like the devs just threw this
section in as a wall for players to mess
around with until they add more content
which if so fair enough I guess but I
don't know if it was the right call and
I seriously hope grinding Out The
Crucible for hours is not how
progression in the game will work when
it's fully released because another
thing I didn't mention is how the entire
game scaled to level 21 once I reached
this point even though I had completed
the story at level 14 that meant that I
actually just had to grind for a while
to stand a chance because all the gear
that was dropped couldn't even be
equipped until I hit Level 21 the entire
Crucible section of the game took a
whole 5 hours to get through or over
onethird of my whole play time on my
first playthrough and I think that was
relatively fast still given the
difficulty Spike and level disparity I
had to deal with so yeah just a lot of
odds design choices that led to an
uneven and repetitive experience also
another nitpick please please add the
ability to Respec the stat requirements
on gear are ridiculously high and I wish
I had the chance to try more weapons out
here's a few more points of feedback
I'll throw onto the screen because I
don't want this section going on for too
long pause if you're curious I know it
must sound like I hate the game after
all that but that couldn't be further
from the truth I still really like this
game there's a deeply satisfying core to
it and most of my issues are tertiary to
that core this is one of the prettiest
games I've ever had the pleasure of
wandering around them and it has the
potential to be a truly exceptional game
for the genre in fact it's already one
of the most impressive games I've
featured in this entire video series
even in its current state I'm just
baffled by some of the design decisions
and think a lot needs to be tweaked it's
only been a few days since the game came
out and already patches are rolling in
to rebalance things for the better so
again do yourself a favor and hold off
for now this is a game that needs a bit
more time to cook if any of the devs
happen to watch this I think you're
creating something special here and I
hope the full game shapes into something
that I can recommend without any
hesitation all right next up we have the
demo for death bounds so I found this
game after this post on Twitter got a
fair bit of traction this guy smashes
enemies with his bare feet mam is a
warrior who leverages his capoa skills a
captivating martial art rooted in
Brazil so there you go this game quickly
got the reputation as the capaa souls
Lake which as the video says is a
martial art that comes from Brazil and
that makes sense because I believe the
developers themselves are Brazilian
although it's not really the capira
souls Lake the better better description
would be it's the party based Souls Lake
where the gimmick is you switch between
multiple characters while you're playing
on the Fly that sounds like a really
interesting hook for a game so yeah
let's check it out all right yeah so
this pre-alpha and everything is subject
to change got it all right I got like a
little short sword dagger and a crossbow
this is an interesting setting there's
like a highway above me so we're going
for like some fantasy mix with sci-fi a
bit in death bound you find new
characters along the way and absorb them
as Essences each Essence has its own
Independent Health and stamina but if
one of them die you die interesting okay
so I kind of like a quick Rogue
character two-handed
Warrior and a spellcaster let's just go
for it I guess
um a lot of blood health and stamina in
death bound the stamina bar overlaps the
current health bar maximum stamina is
bound by the current health when you
lose health your maximum stamina is
reduced by the percentage of Max Health
loss okay that's an interesting idea I'm
trying to think if I've seen that before
I think I may have so normally I feel
like I wouldn't love a system like that
but I think it might work here because I
guess that encourages you to switch
between characters more so here's the
bonfire future
Cube not really sure what they're going
for
Thought level up Jesus Christ
it seems like they're may be going for
like a Path of Exile upgrade tree
something like that okay so I have
lightning
bolt
flamethrower freeze ray and then I have
like flame enchant or
something all right
cool why did that why did that happen
Okay okay hold on it says spell casting
produces heat casting a spell at full
heat will trigger an overheat explosion
gotcha so here's what I'm curious about
if I build up heat like that and I
switch characters does the heat go
down it does it does okay so again
that's a thing where they're trying to
encourage you to switch and not go like
pure
spellcaster all right combat right now
is feeling a little I don't know
something about the combat is feeling a
little off to me right now it's like I
don't have to pinpoint
it hell yeah we got that Demon Souls
ladder climbing speed when you deal
damage all inactive bound Essences are
healed based on the damage dealt oh okay
go
lightning
lightning all
right on my heat's built up I got to
switch to the
Rogue go
crossbow all right absorb what is this
did I unlock a new character oh yeah I
think I did all I'm this guy now do I
have to like play through this dream
sequence to unlock him fast attack heavy
attack block Perry all right let's try
the Perry nice there you go all right
cool so I got four guys
now oh wait did you see that so it
healed me but at the cost of all of the
other characters
greetings fellow Dean any news from our
commanders no what if I switch
characters okay Jud that's cool so I was
Blended in before I was undercover wait
if I switch back okay no they're on to
me they understand so you can morph
while attacking for a special big hit
but it also requires the sink meter at
the bottom of the screen to be full I
think or maybe just uses a charge all
right morph straight
[ __ ] let me try
again okay he blocked it it didn't work
at
all there we go okay I did it I did it
that feels like a little too clunky and
slow for me I guess in my head I was
picturing it being a little more
seamless like I think the idea of like
switching characters midswing mid combat
is super cool but I want it to be just a
little snappier um I don't know that's
just my knee-jerk reaction though maybe
it's fine
how how did you hear
me all right that's a cool morph strike
got another new character a spear woman
with good speed and great reach can use
piercing attacks and slash attacks yeah
and it looks like she just replaced the
Rogue I had so you can only have four at
a time which I
assumed [ __ ] the door
okay get him yeah so I mean like I guess
the animation has to be that slow if
it's going to be that strong this is
like what I always struggle with like my
first impressions it might not be right
like maybe the mor being slow works for
this game it might work let's go freeze
r on this guy I haven't tried that out
yet oh it actually freeze them
okay okay I'm really feeling the stamina
now um like for this guy his health is
so low I can barely swing twice that
makes it really tricky to use him
ancient helmet and it's a football
helmet so I guess that's confirmation on
like the setting being post-apocalypse
which I already assumed but you know
Essence conflicts and synergies Essences
with opposing ideals and adjacent slots
in the party can create conflicts
indicated by an orange line connecting
them or a Synergy line if they share
common
ideals okay so right now I have a
conflict between the spear woman and the
warrior but I have a Synergy between the
warrior and the Mage is there a way I
can like read those anywhere the
conflict gives plus 10% damage minus 10%
defenses and then the Synergy is plus
20% Max heat okay that's cool and I like
how the conflict is not just a debuff
cuz I actually kind of want to leave it
like that cuz 10% power for minus 10%
defense I'll take
that the stench of burning flesh don't
get just love it these are my comrades
you're talking about there only a am I
talking to get do not call me dear I
think that was like me talking to myself
that was the spear woman talking to the
warrior that's cool I hope that
continues throughout the whole game a
little party chatter based off if you
have them equipped or not and like the
conflicts what the [ __ ] is that thing
that's awesome all right I like this
guy getting some interesting enemies
finally
Boom come on they keep doing that every
time boss cut
scene seen a bunch of guys speared to
the wall and
ceiling I feel like that's
foreshadowing
no
no
[Music]
please okay impending truth I'll show
you some truth
ow ow that did so much
damage [ __ ] oh dude I'm taking so much
damage wow oh there's no way I beat this
guy he has so much health and does like
half my health forth one
hit okay he's pretty bad at attacking
this so
maybe wait does this actually work if I
just no way
what come
on wait did I
win nope it's going to be a pH
too okay that was very weird cut scene
okay is he different now he might be
faster
yeah that's a little faster I
think hell yeah hell yeah [ __ ]
[ __ ] oh my
God phase
three oh taking off the blindfold
what the [ __ ] what the [ __ ] hold
on it's so over it's so over it's so
over what is he doing what the [ __ ]
oh my God what is
that I don't know how I'm alive still
all right yep it was about time refuse
by death all right yep just stay behind
him first phase is actually really
easy cuz he has like two
moves almost got me with that all right
let's switch to the row get some CR
crossbow shots
in crossbow I want to save my ranged
attacks for phase
three all
right phase three here we
go let's just try to stay on
him all right I'm going to back up a
little bit let's do crossbow a few
times
reload up that nice more
crossbow all right I think might just
run to the side I'm good yeah okay that
one's not that bad I was panicking last
time here we go big big
big nice
nice I keep running out stamina dude the
stamina management is interesting
all right I'm starting to get into this
kind
of all right that was
good all right you know what there might
be something to this I enjoyed that a
lot more like when I actually had to
switch between three different guys
there in relatively quick succession it
started to make sense to me so I think
the main thing for me is that this game
has a lot of really cool ideas and that
really does go a long way for me you
know as someone who's played a bunch of
these games every time I see some
genuinely cool ideas Blended together
even if the execution is off that means
a lot to me my gut reaction is that this
is going to be the type of game that's
like kind of difficult to recommend see
cuz the thing with this game is that if
you strip away the character switching
you have a pretty buy the num Souls like
in terms of like enemy design level
design all that stuff like it's all
serviceable and fine fine now is that
enough for me to like be like really
excited about it uh maybe not but like
that's a super high bar and the fact
that I'm even considering that like that
means something this is definitely a cut
above a lot of stuff I've played I just
wish the execution was a little
different I wish the setting was a bit
more interesting wish the enemies were a
bit more interesting like I wish I wish
a lot of things but that's that's asking
a lot for a small Indie team anyway I
wish the devs nothing but the best and I
hope the full game turns out great
all right next up we have Rogue Masters
this is a six-player co-op horde
Survival game with Souls like combat and
the top review just says it's killing
floor meets Dark Souls I like Killing
Floor I like dark souls and I have five
friends I can play with so let's check
it out entropy entropy a force of chaos
and Corruption entropy all right so I
can customize my guy here's my guy
feeling good wow these are
they are straight out of Dark
Souls Perfect all right let's do the
tutorial all right this is all pretty
basic stuff yeah this pretty much feels
like dark souls or Dark Souls 3 like
nearly one to one at least that's what
they're going for it seems like okay so
before I start it seems like there's an
in-game store for different armor and
fashion um and I have 10,000 coins to
spend all right feeling feeling good
with my load out got on some heavy armor
now I got a broken sword and a club all
right let's play we got the boys in here
all six of
us I'm liking the fashion everyone has
going on uh I'm not going to be in a
call with them by the way cuz I feel
like six people talking over each other
is too much but they are my friends I'm
playing with right now all right let's
do it fellas all right here we go wave
one of
seven strengthen your willpower entropy
is near
oh [ __ ] they're
here guys oh my God there's so many
enemies bro there's so many
enemies got the backstab on the big guy
keep attacking fellas yeah I don't
really know how much strategy there is
involved with this you know you kind of
just Mash attack I guess there is some
positional strategy kick this guy nice I
still have all my healing left which is
pretty nice all right Last
Enemy all right wave two upgrade your
gear
interesting oh okay that's how you get
better weapons I like this one that
gives me some health you can buy
consumables too which is
interesting yeah I think I'm going save
the rest of my money but I'm feeling
good what was that explosion what do
these guys have is it the firebomb maybe
wait let me try Fire
Bomb oh it is oh wait that's good you
know I think it's funny that there's
like Parry mechanics and stuff like when
the [ __ ] are you going to land a Parry
in this absolute chaos it just doesn't
make sense okay yeah seeing how you just
have to like cleave through like
multiple enemies constantly I'm feeling
like I should have gone with the great
sword you know what I might go all in
with the consumables okay yeah bigger
enemies are coming out oh this is
starting to get bad go fire
bombs save us fire bombs okay so
visually this is a lot to take in and I
think everything looks a little similar
at a glance like I'm not parsing this
information super
quickly oh [ __ ] I'm buff my
weapon got a lightning sword now yeah
not a whole lot to say just kind of run
around keep mashing attack so unless I'm
missing some big mechanic my main
thought right now is it doesn't feel
like I'm being super Cooperative with my
friends in terms of like I don't know if
there's any synergies with weapons or
ways to heal each other uh ways to off
each other stuff like that and I feel
like that would be essential for a game
like this I'm going to try buying this
great hammer oh yeah this is doing way
more
damage I just got [ __ ] back snapped
all right I'm going for a plunging
attack I got one guy oh look at this guy
Shrek I missed you buddy o ooh coni died
okay I think there is a way to revive
but there's so many enemies I don't
think I can get it another man down
he got backst out of the
revive get it get it get it nice so now
that we're in wave five I am seeing more
enemy types but I don't know if I feel
like I'm dealing with them differently I
feel like I'm treating them all the same
I just run up and mash the attack button
you know so it's like this game design
is not making me feel like there's
variety even though there is a decent
bit yeah I'm also realizing that having
armor with decently High boys is huge
what the [ __ ] is that thing holy [ __ ]
I'm just throwing [ __ ] oh my
god oh wait you can heal your allies I
hadn't noticed that for like the entire
game okay if you're near them and you
heal it heals them a little bit too that
is something I do appreciate that all
right I'm trying the big great sword
here we
go this is so goofy man I don't even
know what to say it's
just it's something it's interesting
it's interesting I've never played a
game quite like like
this we did it wait that was way seven
though it said 7 out 7 defeat the
champion of entropy all right final
boss oh [ __ ] I got to take off my chest
I can
roll oh cool I revived him with that
nice he's so tanky
dude staggered him [ __ ] him up [ __ ] him
up what the [ __ ] F oh my God oh my God
everyone's
dead okay yes yes we're good we're good
we're
good dude he attacks so fast I'm just
guessing if I can hit him every
time okay I got
aggro
maybe go for the revive go for the
revive got it got
it oh my God his dead body's moving what
is
happening okay whatever we got
him your willpower is Incorruptible top
of the scoreboard let's [ __ ] go coni
died 11 times good job man all right
there's also PVP apparently um so I'm
going to mess around with that a tiny
bit 1 V one PVP let's
go oh
[ __ ] wow my shield does not do
[ __ ] save me fire
bombs going for the Parry well I
tried so I don't hate it I think
fighting hordes of enemies with dark
souls combat is a pretty unique idea and
it did deliver on that promise I think
the fundamental issue with this game
though is that it does try to emulate
Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3i combat
nearly one to one and that style of
combat is just not well suited for
fighting dozens of enemies at the same
time like if you look at Souls games you
will fight groups of enemies sometimes
but very very rarely will you have 30
guys on top of you because the slow
paced tactical nature of the souls games
kind of goes out the window when it's
that much of a cluster [ __ ] so yeah I
think a game like this would benefit a
lot from leaning Less on souls and
adding more action games stuff like
maybe there's abilities you can activate
that are on a cool down maybe the combat
is a little faster Pace with your
movement those types of things just seem
better suited for the sheer number of
enemies you're fighting and then lastly
despite being advertised as this like
six player co-op game it didn't feel
super Cooperative most of the time so
there is the Estus healing mechanic and
you can revive your teammates but other
than that I felt like we were mostly
doing our own thing for the majority of
the match just running around kiting
enemies mashing back and yeah I think
there's a version of this game where you
give players abilities to more directly
and impactfully affect their teammates
and that version would be a lot more fun
so while I don't think I'd recommend
this game I still think it's pretty
interesting and it has the bones to
potentially be a decent game down the
line but it would need to fundamentally
change a lot I think yeah neat
game next up we have the demo for stone
machia I found this game thanks to this
comment it's apparently an Italian Souls
leg based on chess pieces I think that
actually sounds like it could be awesome
and these screenshots are very cool so
let's check it out holy [ __ ] dude this
setting what is
happening this looks so [ __ ]
cool okay so I'm a chest piece I'm
fighting another chest piece oh this is
badass okay all right let's go so I can
move around I can roll I can jump I can
parry and I got my attack all right yeah
I mean chest piece Souls like seems like
an accurate description so far okay
let's try pairing these
guys I I think I'm doing it okay oh the
Parry just outright kills them okay I
wasn't sure if it did interesting just
look at this setting though this [ __ ]
rules man like wow this is already kind
of overwhelming I have three different
enemies going for me uh I don't know if
I have a health
fire oh [ __ ] I think I lost maybe that's
one of those fights you're supposed to
lose though so okay yeah I was
definitely supposed to lose
that thousand wings were severed and
Heaven dies this game is some really
cool imagery Okay cool so I think I'm a
pawn and I just fell from heaven so like
I'm thinking way too far ahead now but I
really really hope since I'm a pawn
there's some sort of mechanic with onp
pasant why am I not dead
why uh uh who are you what do you want I
want to get out let me out if only that
hores shaped Angel hadn't swallowed the
gate lever I know the Aesthetics of
Fallen kingdoms are kind of overdone
with Souls leges a bit but um mixing it
with chest pieces is making it work for
me so far you are
beautiful BL
I want to be with you
what what is this like a little guy now
oh a sword finally so like gameplay wise
this seems like very very simple so far
um I hope they do a bit more with it but
we'll
see is this accomplishing anything wait
where's my sword my sword's gone oh [ __ ]
I need that this enemy is [ __ ] sick
oh there's another sword okay maybe it
just broke dude this enem is so cool I
have to like hit his floating
chain get it it's not breaking what do I
do uh what do we have here a pawn uh uh
uh uh uh uh uh fler darn listen there's
a shield in the
castle take it and get this thing off my
legs swords aren't
working
thanks okay my sword broke again all
right so so I guess your sword just
breaks really quickly that's a bit of an
interesting choice so far but I'm open
to
it
what I have no shield no sword what the
[ __ ] do I do that's so cool that's so
cool oh that's such a cool design what
do I do though just run just run follow
the trail oh I'm safe okay all right
they're pulling some Asylum Demon [ __ ]
I'm guessing I was supposed to run I bet
that's the shield
finally you've obtained The Shield the
sacred Relic made of angelic metal from
like the little intro sequence it seemed
like parrying does a lot of damage if
not just outright killing enemies so I
guess having a sword is optional which
is maybe part of why they're
breakable there we go okay cool one shot
all right now I got to get this thing
off this guy What if I Parry an enemy
near it and the explosion hits the
crystal there we go yep it works so this
is kind of interesting so far I hope
there's more to this game's combat than
like just having the time a singular
Parry on most enemies yeah I guess we'll
see so I know this is the chest piece
Souls like right and I'm upon I'm
killing some Knights right now I do wish
the chest was reflected in the game play
somehow like if I'm fighting a knight
somehow it attacks in an L shape you
know that would be really interesting it
just feels like a missed opportunity if
there's not like just a little bit of
chest mixed in you know what I mean all
right dropping down oh there's the boss
okay let's wait till he stop
spinning there we
go all right bring him
in there's one
yeah this is pretty easy he's already
almost
dead I mean the attacks are well
telegraphed they're well telegraphed but
this is pretty
simple I mean I really like that design
I I think the Aesthetics of that boss
and just the idea for it very very cool
I can finally leave cuah crap why are
there crabs what happened to the chest
piece
es what is this oh my
God is this like a
rook hell
yeah I like the design of that guy it
kind of reminds me of um kind of reminds
of Alexander from Elden ring hello
eyeball what are you
oh
unlocked all right it's kind of ominous
I have this Angel eyeball just following
me now see I like that I like how it
doesn't explain things I just got
something weird and it's just letting me
sit with
that wait is this
moving wait is it
breathing wait is this a
crab oh wait wait I think this is like
the crab's head or a hat for it oh here
we
go beautiful okay we're in some sort of
Cathedral or Castle
now all right monkey help please free
me all right I'll
try are you
good
phew yeah that's fair stay away from me
with that filthy sword
or I'll tear you apart this is really
pretty yeah the environments of this
game and just the imagery that's created
from it definitely my favorite part so
far listen little thing our paths
diverge here I have to chase after that
statue that attacked me before it Stole
My Sword I I need it holy [ __ ] oh my God
oh my God they're
singing that's awesome that's nightmare
fuel though I [ __ ] hate
that oh and it keeps looking at you even
if you move okay God that's so
unsettling also it's a little weird like
I feel like this combat system is
already easy enough and the fact that
I'm healing off of every single enemy
and hit I do just odd from a design
perspective okay what's
this press and hold y to heal so I
unlocked more healing I was already
talking about how this game has too much
healing and they give me even more
that's interesting giant fish swimming
around I'm into it random train car sure
oh my God it's a
baby oh my God it rolls man dude some of
these enemy designs are so fun I just
wish there was more to this game than
pressing the Parry button you know like
it's just begging for more combat
mechanics I don't
understand oh you're an enemy sure you
know when your game is themed around
like so many different objects being
enemies I feel like that gives you a lot
of potential to play around with parts
of the level coming to life like that so
I hope that's explored more
there we go and this fish is swimming
really
low is it supposed to swim this low
right there's a
rook
okay okay wait see this move set the way
he went to the side and then like
charged in like that okay wait he's
actually behaving like a rook kind of
finally we're getting
that okay it's the monkey
it's the guardian ape
Lilith all right all right pretty
straightforward I like the
rolls oh what's what the [ __ ] is that
what the [ __ ] is that do I pick that up
oh I I stole its sword oh that's cool oh
that's sick it's way
faster all I really like that stealing
the boss's weapon just using it against
it super hype super fun I wonder if this
sword just won't break now yeah I
actually have like combos now oh yeah
also I have like aerial attacks
finally camera's a little tough
sometimes what the [ __ ] is
that
oh those are nutcrackers oh that's
sick that's fun see this is what I'm
talking about this is sick just a
[ __ ] Building walking around
so goofy I love it unironically lies of
P needed more [ __ ] like this just a
little goofier you
know what the [ __ ] was that what the
[ __ ] oh my God this just turned into
Frogger see look now we're cooking this
is where this game is at its best like
look at how weird and cool this is I'm
so into this uh I'm just going to walk
past you guys oh is this a boss fight oh
am I playing I'm playing I'm playing I'm
parrying I'm parrying what
happened wait what was that just like a
cut scene saying I can't go forward
they're like carrying rocks I wonder if
I can ride them that would be
cool
no wait I can use them to launch
me speedrun
tech
oh is the door going to come to life
it's is oh that's
sick
okay oh okay wait it has disjointed
hands I like
that oh [ __ ] okay okay okay ow ow oh my
God I got [ __ ]
petrificus interesting okay got to jump
it maybe okay that's
cool oh God per okay this boss is
definitely a little tougher than the
other one
ones nice
nice all right I'm starting to get into
this game more
actually yes yes that was actually a
pretty fun fight I want to give some
serious credit for just the sheer amount
of different enemies in this game so far
like even though the combat's very
simple it's still kind of working
because of that what the hell is
this you can't get in
for
now
okay are you attacking me oh my God I
don't think I commented on the music yet
but uh the music's actually really well
done look at that thing it's like a
giant manay fish with a sailboat lodged
into it hey Zephyr it's barakiel talking
to you we're almost at the end of the
demo this map is a work in progress I
want to thank you for getting this far
and as a reward I've decided to give you
all the chest pieces
[Music]
wait what this game was holding out on
me the whole time okay hold on suddenly
the chest piece thing makes sense you
can morph into different characters with
different abilities and they kind of
corresponds with their chest
counterparts Why didn't it introduce
that at the start all right so here's
the bishop pretty fast and you can like
launch these light beams uh here's the
Knight which charges around oh my God
okay hold on this game just jumped up so
many points for me this game finally
makes sense man it finally makes sense I
don't know what this move is doing it's
like pulling him in I think oh it is
yeah I think it's like pulling him in
like a
wormhole all right look how [ __ ] fast
I can go man this looks so cool I wish
the frame rate wasn't so bad could the
camera use some work you know maybe
maybe maybe a bit yeeha who what the
[ __ ] is this
move I can just do this this is sick
this like a whole different game now
look they're little
windmills wait what did I just do did I
did I pick him up look at this [ __ ] this
is so cool man I'm
just H I really think there's some
potential here this is neat I think
that's it though I don't really think
there's much else to find or progress
with so I'm going to call it here you
know what that was actually really cool
it all finally clicked into place at the
end I think the developer has created
this beautiful world with so many cool
enemies and Boss Designs in it like
there's some real inspired stuff here
and then when you mix that in with the
idea of switching between chest pieces
that have different abilities there's
some serious potential my main point of
feedback is I wish there was
mechanically just a little more to the
game than just parrying and I think
that's explored a little bit at the end
with the Transformations um I want that
to be taken farther with the different
chest pieces being more distinct from
one another and having even more
abilities I don't know this is like one
of the more creative Souls likes I've
played and the whole time I was just
smiling and laughing at how cool this
game is yeah no great job please stick
with it man all right next up we have
the demo for codex lost this is a Souls
like from a solo developer but the hook
is that it focuses entirely on
spellcasting I think that's a fantastic
premise so yeah let's just jump right in
uh okay we're selecting a class I mean I
guess it makes the most sense since I
don't know anything about this game to
just go with the one that's mid mid mid
all right here's my guy um we got like
the plague doctor looking thing oh wait
actually I think I might just be a bird
straight up I can't tell if that's a
mask got like a library this game looks
pretty cool so far spell crafting I
think I need to find recipes before I
can actually craft maybe okay so this is
my basic spell Arcane pulse I think it's
only melee
range then I have Arcane
blast it's like AOE and then I have this
Arcane bolt which is a ranged attack I'm
in the library so let's teleport to
penal Village be wary of Elemental
Affinity these foes resist fire but are
weak to
lightning okay well I have neither so
probably good so that just cost a bunch
of Mana to do all that um yeah my Mana
comes back very slowly over time I'm
hoping there's another way to get it
back I'm sure there is so we got the
Dodge button and we can dodge across
gaps it seems like the basic Arcane
pulse doesn't use Mana so I can kind of
just melee this guy yeah I wonder if
defending costs Mana or just
stamina I think just stamina I'm
watching the bar yeah I think it's just
stamina X to
heal
nice right shortcut on
locked what's this you you can't be
serious you're a curator aren't you yeah
you've got a lot of nerves showing your
beak around here mate after what you've
done it's all going to put mate and it's
us crows that get in the nick straight
up discrimination is what it's B down to
so I guess that also does confirm that I
am in fact a crow and this isn't the
mask oozing sack just what you want to
find in a chest that guy's
shooting really slow moving Fireballs at
me like really
non-threatening also I no there's like a
stagger bar beneath his health bar I'm
assuming that's what that
is O I got a recipe okay finally I found
a recipe I'm guessing that's a spell by
the way I got to say I'm sorry
navigating the menu with a controller I
hate navigating menus like this with
this like really slow moving cursor oh
my
god oh [ __ ]
Barrel the classic should thou Parry an
attack spent Mana will be recovered by a
small amount okay
cool let me see if I can do that I think
I did it I didn't see how much it gave
me I I can't tell am I recovering
Mana hm I don't know all right so I got
two guys shooting at me that's a m melee
guy and there's a mage guy on the left
this is kind of
interesting take out the melee guy
switch to range for this
guy and then I'm going to run in use the
blast nice that was kind of neat I liked
how I had to use like all three there or
I didn't have to use all three but all
three were useful at least I'm into this
so far it's a slow introduction but I
can already sense the potential here oh
my God although they've done the same
barrel trap on me three
times oh you know what I wonder if I
need Fire magic for this that would be
interesting if there's like Elemental
stuff you need like the specific
element oh my God what the [ __ ] I can't
tell if he drop kicked me or if I
parried him and he slipped memory fonts
save thy location only one can be active
at a time
okay can I go back to the
hub doesn't seem like it Pages turn yet
the library sleeps I like this guy's
design like this giant Globe
head and I feel like I wish I had more
magic to spend on like the the cooler
spells has a lot of Health I'm not even
hurting it maybe I can like Parry it
back at
it
no oh my God oh God not another one [ __ ]
that I'm
leaving all
right death all right I'm back in the
hub area and I lost all my money awesome
but the good news is I'm guessing I can
craft all those spells I found ignite
looks like I'm missing magic powder damn
it can I craft anything else no I'm
missing at least one thing for all of
these man I found all these spells I
can't craft any of them [ __ ] also I'm
confused I activated that checkpoint why
did it set me all the way back okay one
thing I will say that I really think
should be a thing I think your basic
attack that doesn't cost any Mana should
also restore your Mana with every hit
because I feel like I'm using this
standard spell way too often when I have
the other cool spells you know and I
don't like how it's a viable strategy to
just like wait in place for several
minutes to get all your Mana back like
that just sucks like I know the game is
not directly encouraging me to do that
but it's not ideal that that's like
viable did I just poison myself oh my
God I did God damn
it oh okay this enem is a little more
interesting he like throws
Boulders
whoa
back back ow
oh
[ __ ] I like how he just knocked me on my
[ __ ] ass all right giant Fox
okay oh it's not
friendly is he just going to sit
there all right in that case [ __ ] you oh
[ __ ] okay okay it's Arcane blast
him am I am I even hurting
him he's inin ible he's Invincible [ __ ]
this [ __ ] this maybe it's because I'm
Arcane and like he's immune to Arcane
damage or like mostly immune to it oh
man that case I really need to get more
spells hold forth thy compass then
activate by attacking am I activating
this
thing oh
cool memory font activated dude I want
to go back to the hub area and spend my
money without having to backtrack to the
beginning of the game I haven't found
like a teleport location
yet what the [ __ ] was that
okay now is it going to send me all the
way back why do the checkpoints not work
what am I missing can I craft anything
nope can't craft that I can craft this
hold
onah Let's test it
[Music]
out okay it kind of misses the target I
mean this could be good but I feel like
a lot of these are going to miss let's
let's try it on this guy I'm going to
guess guess they're all going to miss
horribly
uh no it's it's okay is this a
boss yep okay go ice
volley go ice
F dude they keep I knew this spell was
going to be horrible they go over his
head
[Music]
[ __ ] and I got to walk all the way back
dude is the checkpoint system
[Music]
bugged oh that's how it
works okay I get it now you use the one
that's in the hub and it teleports you
back okay all right my bad
okay I feel so slow it's got place like
SRO
knocked him
over
carry
carry I don't feel like a mage I feel
like a really clunky
SEO got him come on oh my God that was
like a really clunky fight but I don't
know it's
whatever oh my God wait yes I found
finally made back to the start oh thank
God I can teleport back to the hub and
level up all right I have enough to
craft volcanic sigils all right let's
try
it that could be good and now since I
have a fire spell I want to go back and
burn those
Vines oh hey it worked that's cool I
hope they do more with the elemental
stuff than just like a lock and key
situation you know where it's just like
you see Vines use fire spell I want
there to be more creative uses um like
using ice to create a platform but have
it be like a little more involved than
just freezing and walking across it I
don't know if that makes sense but I
feel like there's a lot of potential
with like the puzzle aspect and the
environmental aspect of like different
Elemental spells I've brought this game
up before Maga is such a good example
love that game all right I guess time to
jump down the
hole Church undercroft
surprisingly not super expensive for
that spell too so I can like cast a good
amount oh man oh man please be weak to
fire they are they
are okay that confirms like how big
Elemental Vantage makes a difference cuz
Arcane was doing nothing before dude we
have we have an actual dungeon here we
have like traps and [ __ ] everywhere
secrets I'm into this found a checkpoint
hell yeah man that's the first permanent
checkpoint I found I've been playing for
a while that's very rare to see these
days in Souls likes and I kind of like
it oh [ __ ] you seem the perfect height
for ice B
[Music]
though all the crucifix attacks that's
awesome all right that's a quick attack
good
Lord all right I guess I'll just
volcanic sigil you and win
ow all right you know what volcanic C
might not work it does kind of lock me
in place okay let me just like get a
feel for the attacks
so just move around I think if I just
keep running to the side I'm mostly safe
problem is ice volley only works at like
a very specific range so I got to get
like kind of close for the optimal range
there we go that's good damage though
yeah he's the perfect H for this
perfect there you go
that was neat that was cool you know
like I feel like the ideas for these
bosses are they're close they're close
to being something really interesting
like it's not quite there for me but
like I can see it I can see it dark
claws tear through the air before the
Caster ripping into the very Souls of
one's enemies the damage dealt by these
Unholy Talons is nothing short of
outrageous yeah 264 damage seems
significantly higher than all my other
spells
oh it's like a
melee I like
that it's outrageous so go this is a
long demo boss time I'm pretty little
magic but let's just see what
happens
Dawn guidance
tomor I thought we were done with this
fine I shall attend to this Duty once
more
[Music]
oh very
[ __ ] all right I can tell this is going
to be a little tricky could go with all
reliable volcanic sigils never mind
that's way too
slow okay all right this time I'm going
to play a lot more
defensively okay do your thing yep
okay
[Music]
okay there's just enough
time yeah I don't know I'm I feel like
my spells are just too slow to deal with
that like even after a Parry I'd parry
and go for the hit and it's not enough
just got to treat like a puzzle figure
out what my moves are I wish I could
craft more stuff but I'm missing all the
ingredients as usual oh actually you
know what hold on I haven't crafted a
poison spell yet maybe I could just
poison him and sit back super toxin you
know what I bet super toxin will
work all right let's let's try
this okay so it's short range it's just
in front of me I think this could
work Parry
poison how do I know when he's poisoned
he's going green I got him let got to
sit back and not die oh the Poison's
doing good damage actually hold on
yeah the Poison's sick okay it ran out
finally still though like that applies
instantly that's really
good what the
[ __ ] this is awesome man this would be
really hard if I didn't have
[Music]
poison
poison no no no God damn it I was so
close I don't love how this boss feels
but part of me is okay with it if I look
at it as a puzzle and like all my
different spells are puzzle piece
[Music]
options oh my God oh my
God die die
yes all right you have completed the
demo so I'm kind of mixed on this one
but I do want to give credit where
credit is due this is a solo developed
game that has some really cool ideas a
great premise and I think it'll at least
be interesting cuz that's how I feel
about this demo it's interesting you
know having a Souls like that centers
around magic is a great idea I like
trying out all the different spells I
think of the Spells I tried out they
felt different enough but at the same
time I feel like there's still so much
more potential with what you can do with
a game like this like exploring spells
Beyond just pure damaging spells it
seems like there's very little of that
level design is decent they definitely
understand what makes a Soul's game tick
when it comes to that I wish I wish
there was a little bit more to the
bosses and enemies and how they can
respond to you as the player I don't
know it feels like this game is on the
cusp of being special it's on the cusp I
just I don't know I don't know if
there's enough for me here to like
really latch on to but maybe maybe there
were moments when I was playing this
where I was getting like big kingsfield
flashbacks and I liked thinking about
all the Spells I had as tools where
sometimes like one of them would work in
a specific scenario and sometimes
another one would work better in a
different scenario and as far as just
like minor suggestions go I do wish that
Mana was replenished just by using your
basic no Mana cost spell uh I wish the
control scheme was a little different
especially when it comes to selecting
your spells cycling through them on the
d-pad like I know that's how fromsoft
does it there are better Solutions out
there genuinely look at Lords of the
Fallen look at the new Lords of the
Fallen game how they approach magic I
think that could fit really well here
for those curious how it works like you
hold down left trigger and then like all
the face buttons become different spells
you can c C anyway I enjoyed this a lot
I see the potential so I'm going to keep
an eye on it hey thank you very much for
watching so yeah this video is pretty
long my longest video ever I
apologize didn't mean for it to be this
long um I just wanted to show off more
than I usually do I guess I hope people
are into it still should the No Rest For
The Wicked section have been 40 minutes
long maybe not but um I don't know I
think it's fine I think a game like that
of that caliber deserves a bit of a
deeper look anyway as always I really
appreciate any feedback any
recommendations there's always a couple
games in this list that I would never
found without people commenting about
them uh believe it or not I'm actually
planning to upload two more videos this
month I think but yeah that's about it
hope you're all doing well and uh take
it easy
[Music]
5.0 / 5 (0 votes)
